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Legal Status of EPT in Massachusetts						Print
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										permissible**EPT is permissible.**
This is a table caption for compliance. Ignore it please.
**I. Statutes/regs on health care providers’ authority to prescribe for STDs to a patient’s partner(s) w/out prior evaluation** (Explanation)
plus symbol “A registered physician, physician assistant, certified nurse practitioner, or nurse midwife may provide expedited partner therapy (EPT) for the treatment of chlamydia infection, which is the prescribing or dispensing for immediate treatment... for the treatment of a sex partner or partners of a patient diagnosed with chlamydia infection...” 105 CMR 700.003(J) (effective 7/1/2011)**II. Specific judicial decisions concerning EPT (or like practices)** (Explanation)**III. Specific administrative opinions by the Attorney General or medical or pharmacy boards concerning EPT (or like practices)** (Explanation)
minus symbol In 2003, the Board of Registration in Medicine issued a policy on internet prescriptions, providing that “to satisfy the requirement that a prescription be issued by a practitioner in the usual course of his professional practice, there must be a physician-patient relationship that is for the purpose of maintaining the patient’s well-being and the physician must conform to certain minimum norms and standards for the care of patients, such as taking an adequate medical history and conducting an appropriate physical and/or mental status examination and recording the results.” It concluded that issuance of a prescription “by any means, including the internet,...that does not meet these requirements is therefore unlawful.” Note that the Board did not clarify, in citing a statutory provision on prescriptions for controlled substances, whether its position on issuing prescriptions without an exam also applies to the issuance of non-controlled substances.***IV. Laws that incorporate via reference guidelines as acceptable practices (including EPT)** (Explanation)**V. Prescription requirements** (Explanation)
plus symbol “In a case in which the patient is provided with a prescription for the patient’s sex partner, there shall be a separate prescription for the sex partner, which includes on the prescription form, where the name and address of the patient is to be noted, either the name of the sex partner or the words “Expedited Partner Therapy,” “E.P.T.” or “EPT”...” 105 CMR 700.003**VI. Assessment of EPT’s legal status with brief comments** (Explanation)
potentially allowable**EPT is permissible.**Department of Public Health regulations authorize EPT for the treatment of chlamydia.* This legal authority predates the effective date of the state’s law that authorizes EPT.
**Status as of February 03, 2023**Legendplus sign supports the use of EPT
minus symbol negatively affects the use of EPT
permissible EPT is permissible
potentially allowable EPT is potentially allowable
prohibited EPT is prohibited

This is a table caption for compliance. Ignore it please.
permissible EPT is permissible in 46 states:
potentially allowable EPT is potentially allowable in 4 states:
prohibited EPT is prohibited in 0 states:AlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingEPT is permissible in the District of Columbia.
EPT is permissible in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
AlabamaKansasOklahomaSouth DakotaEPT is potentially allowable in Puerto Rico and Guam.Show More
****

**Summary Totals**
The information presented here is not legal advice, nor is it a comprehensive analysis of all the legal provisions that could implicate the legality of EPT in a given jurisdiction.  The data and assessment are intended to be used as a tool to assist state and local health departments as they determine locally appropriate ways to control STDs.
For comments, feedback and updates, please contact CDC-INFO: https://www.cdc.gov/cdc-info/.
							
					
							Last Reviewed:  November 3, 2023						Source: 	Division of STD Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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